1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for attaching pairs of fastener elements such as snap fasteners, buttons, ornaments or the like onto a garment.
2. Prior Art
Fasteners concerned are composed of a pair of mating fastener elements between which is sandwiched a garment by clinching engagement therebetween. Setting of these elements properly on the garment needs to keep the mating element pair placed in an accurate alignment with each other with their respective postures unchanged until they contact with the garment.
There have been proposed a number of the fastener attaching machines. A common problem associated with those conventional apparatus is however that such fastener elements relatively small in size and light in weight tend to be displaced or detached from a suitable position before attachment to the garment under the influence of an external force that may be exerted from the garment or foreign matters.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 49-29698, published Aug. 6, 1974 discloses an apparatus designed to reduce such problems by providing a reciprocating punch and a die vertically arranged in opposite relation with each other for attaching a pair of fastener elements to a garment from the opposite sides thereof, the punch having on its bottom end a projection for snappingly retaining thereon one fastener element while the die having on its top end a recess for receiving therein the other fastener element. Such apparatus is however still disadvantageous in that the fastener elements are susceptible to displacement or detachment from the projection or recess under vibration caused from the apparatus per se. Furthermore the receiving means formed with the punch and die become inoperative when used in such a fastener attaching machine of the horizontal type.